What is an online product and how does a person go about marketing one? That is often the question asked by those who are interested in creating digital products and then marketing them on the Internet. Here it will be explored exactly what an online product is and how you can go about marketing them online yourself.

An online product can have so many different meanings. For example, it can refer to any product that is sold on the Internet or it can refer to products that can only be sold online, such as digital products. For the explanation provided here, digital products or those that can only be sold online will be covered. If you’re marketing products that can also be sold offline as well, you can still get some pointers from this information which may be helpful.

An online product or digital product is one that Internet users purchase on the Internet and then download to their computer. There are also digital products that may not require a direct download though, such as an e-book that can be accessed as part of a website, rather than in PDF form. Digital or Internet products can include e-books, music, videos, software, applications or access to things such as training programs.

As for marketing online products, they can be marketed by using several different methods, including:

Niche marketing: Marketing by using very specific key phrases and terms on your website for that product only. A niche website doesn’t have any other products or services on it and the goal is to reach a very specific audience.

PPC marketing: Signing up for and using PPC (pay per click) advertising programs that are offered by the search engines and other websites. You only pay a fee when an Internet user clicks on the ad and visits your website.

Video marketing: Recording a video and uploading it to sites like YouTube to showcase your digital product.

Social media marketing: Using websites and services such as Facebook and Twitter to reach out to people and interact with those who may be interested in the online product that you’re offering.

Email marketing: Building a list of email addresses by providing a sign up box on your website and social media sites and then sending people who opted in to your email list emails regarding your online product or products.

When it comes down to it, online products can be marketed using the same manners of any other Internet product or service. There are free choices, such as blogging about your online products and then there are methods which can get quite expensive like PPC and flat rate advertising.

Like many things, products go through a cycle during their effective lifespan. These cycles are regular and predictable. A formal life cycle can help build an understanding of the pattern of stages that a product goes through.

There are many different life cycles each based on the focus and pattern, which the author is observing. In this article, I’m going to share a very detailed nine-step life cycle of an online product.

1. Plan

A good online product begins with a plan. The plan details much of the background information required for the online product. However, only the requirements for the product are provided.

2. Design

In this stage, the requirements are given form. The online product that was described in the plan is defined in detail. A detailed outline of the product is produced.

3. Produce

This stage varies depending on the media of the online product. For example, an eBook is written at this stage. A teleseminar on the other hand may be written but it definitely is presented and recorded.

4. Package or Publish

The online product is still in a rough state at the start of this stage — although it is in fact complete. This stage polishes the product and adds elements that turn it into a professional, salable product. For example, a video will have opening and closing credits added and a cover designed.

5. Generating Traffic

At this stage, the product is available. However, sales are not actually occurring. Instead, traffic must be generated in order to ensure that sales are sufficient to justify the costs so far. This is often referred to as a pre-launch stage although it can occur after the launch.

6. Marketing and Selling

At this stage, the product is available and the traffic has reached a stable point. Sales are reasonably stable. In this stage, the marketing emphasis has switched to finding the right types of traffic, rather than the growth focus of the previous stage.

7. Declining Sales

After a period of time, almost all products begin to experience a decline in sales. This may be because of market saturation or real or perceived obsolescence.

8. Bonus

Finally, the sales have dropped to the point that marketing and sales efforts fail to produce sales. At this point, the product is retired from sales. However, it becomes available for use as a bonus to support the sales of other products.

9. Retirement

Eventually, a product will cease to be of value even as a bonus. At this point, the product will be removed from the products for sale list.

Network marketing products have been known to be some of the best products on the market. The network marketing business model allows for the company to cut out several levels from production of the products to the end consumers. With this strategy, comes the ability of the company to focus more intent on the quality of the network marketing products.

So there is no question why network marketing products are popular. However there is a big question from a business perspective. Does a product add to the ability for a person to attain more success in the mlm / network marketing / direct sales industry?

Now this is a somewhat controversial subject and you will get many different opinions about it. Some will say that the product a company has makes the difference between success and failure of all the distributors. From others you will hear that it doesn’t really make that much difference.

So who is right? Well, coming from more than 10 years of experience in the industry, most of the people saying that their products made a huge impact on their success, are usually some of the top income earners in their company. Many times they are saying this so that people in their organization continue to be on their autoship. There are some people who the products truly did change their life completely and in most cases these people typically stay consumers for life but never really build a business. Now of course there are exceptions to this, but in the grand scale of the industry this is pretty much the reality.

There are also a lot of people who even suggest how much success a person can have in business because of their network marketing products. You have probably heard someone say, “This product is so great, it basically sells itself.”

Well if that is really true, then I challenge the person who says this to take their product out of the box it came in, walk outside and put it down in the middle of your front yard. Now go back inside and check your company back office and see if you made any commissions. In fact leave it out there for a few days and then check your back office again. You will see that you did not make any money because the product did not sell itself.

In my opinion, network marketing products are some of the best products available. They have the ability to completely change an aspect of a person’s life, whether that be physical, mental or both. The more change a person goes through in their life as a result of the product, the more likely they will stay involved at some level with that company.

Now when it comes to building a business however, in my opinion, the product is not nearly as important as the person who is building the business. I say this because people do business with people they know, like and trust. A person will only join or become a customer if these three factors are met.

Think about outside of this industry for one second and look at your past experiences of dealing with different sales reps. There is usually some that you remember as being magnificent in answering all your questions and making sure it’s a great fit for you. There is also those ones that you actually left the store and bought it somewhere else because of the sales rep. The same applies with network marketing products and companies.

When it comes to network marketing products and the success in your business, in my opinion you have to be at least somewhat passionate about what you have to offer. This further enables your ability to attract people.

Now, with that said, since people do business with people they know, like and trust, I highly recommend you learn how to market yourself instead of your company or network marketing products. If you can learn how to brand yourself as a leader in the marketplace, you will attract far more people who want to be in business with you.